Rainfall
by Sassifrass
Summary: In the whirlwind of events that have led up the Keith and Lance becoming Defenders of the Universe, both have put their own feelings aside, becoming the Paladins they were expected to become rather than living their lives as teenagers still figuring themselves out. In rare moments of reprieve, they both find themselves discovering feelings they didn't know they had.
1. Chapter 1

"Alright Paladins, now remember, this is only a quick stop. Shiro and I will be heading to the main district to meet with a representative and you all are free to roam on this planet but be sure to make it back to the castle by sundown. Eyes on the sky," Allura smiled at the collection of warriors before her, clapping her hands together.

Coran opened the hatch they were all in front of and they were immediately hit with a familiar sound.

"Is that...rain?" Pidge asked, immediately abandoning the discussion they were having with Keith just quiet enough for Allura to not hear. That's what they had Lance and his loud voice for, after all.

"Indeed it is, Pidge! This planet experiences precipitation often due to its large variety of lakes and groundwater!" Coran supplied, his smile bright and happy.

Pidge and Hunk exchanged glances before leaning around Coran to see a rather gray landscape being pelted with heavy raindrops. With one more look at one another, they bolted. Their laughter could be heard through the cutting sound of water bombarding the wet stones they ran across, splashing through puddles and kicking up water as they went.

Keith chuckled after them, joining Coran by the doors. "Let's just hope they don't insult anyone by acting like total idiots." He mumbled, earning a huff of laughter.

"They're not the ones I'm worried about," he said with a glint in his eye and a smile in his voice.

The Red Pilot felt his lips twitch up and he crossed his arms over his chest. "Yeah, where is that dumbass anyway?"

"He's around somewhere- Shiro was lecturing him about something he and Pidge were cooking up or whatnot."

"Why is Pidge free to run around, then?" He asked, brows furrowing but unable to hide his amusement at that.

"I assume it's because they seem to talk their way out of just about everything," the ginger man joked as he chuckled, patting Keith on the shoulder as he turned to head back into the castle. "Well! I'll be tending to the ship if you need me, but I suggest you make the most of a break like this, Keith. Please, enjoy yourself."

Keith nodded, hefting his bag over his shoulder and stepping out into the rain. He lifted his jacket above his head and sprinted for it. Although he tried to suppress it, he ultimately couldn't stop the smile from lighting up on his face.

It had been _so long_ since he'd run through the rain like this. Between living in the desert, attending the Garrison, and studying for all the entrance tests in Phoenix, he hadn't seen rain like this in years. It made his heart race and his whole body thrum with excitement, an almost giddy smile painting his lips.

When he finally cleared the gray, stone landscape and broke into the edge of a forest, he paused in his retreat and stood still, breath coming in fast, his chest burning with a familiar, long desired feeling. The trees blocked a majority of the rain so he took the time to slow down, his breathing evening out.

He inhaled deeply through his nose, the scent dense and earthy. His lips fluttered up into a smile and he let the fresh air fill his still burning lungs. The wet scent of dirt and pine filled his every sense and he opened his eyes to watch water drip off of familiar looking needles that were just ever so slightly bluer than he was used to.

Continuing walking, he ran his fingers through the wet needles of the trees and listened to the mud, purply and thick, squelch between the tracks of his shoes. Rather quickly, he found himself pushing into a large clearing, surrounded on all sides by trees, where the rain pelted especially hard. Off to the side, there was a large rocky outcropping with a huge overhang. The perfect place to watch the rain without getting soaked.

Jogging over to it, Keith ducked underneath and plopped unceremoniously with a huge sigh and rested his head against the smooth stone. For the first time in a long time, he felt...at ease. Not feeling persecuted, or like he had to solve something or prove himself. He always felt like this in nature, in the quiet. Like there was no one to impress, no reason to push himself beyond his limits or forget his pains. There was just the quiet. He liked it most out there, it was quiet.

It wasn't like the ship lacked quiet moments, on the contrary. With such an enormous vessel carrying them, he spent a lot of time in the quiet. The problem with that was it wasn't _quiet_ , it was _silent._ Altean technology, although being extremely impressive, made no noise whatsoever. That made time alone on the ship not relaxing or peaceful, but unsettling.

The quiet of nature, or open spaces and soft noises, now that was perfect to Keith. The whispering of wind, the pattering of rain, the soft croaking of some...space...thing. It was soothing. He felt at peace with his mind like this, at peace with himself and who he was. There was no judgment in the quiet. Just how he liked it most.

He didn't know how long he sat there really, just listening to the rain hit the outcropping and drip off, splattering on the stone below. His eyes were propped open lazily, scanning the landscape as he watched the suns sparkle in the sky high above. There weren't any distractions here, nothing to draw his attention. He could just-

Something broke his concentration and he found his eyes snapping to movement at the edge of the clearing, hand instantly going to the knife on his belt. But he found he recognized the figure standing at the edge of the forest. Lance.

The lanky boy was already mostly soaked, missing his signature jacket, and walking at a slow, leisurely pace. Keith had to hold back a groan. Well, there goes his quiet and safe space. But something was wrong. It seemed like Lance hadn't noticed him yet, eyes trained on the skyline.

Keith was sure that Lance would be acting much like Pidge and Hunk, just waiting for him to start running around the clearing, smashing his feet into puddles to see how high he could make the water splash up. Hell, he'd probably try to irk him into a contest to see who could splash more or some shit like that.

More than anything, though, he'd been expecting Lance to be smiling. He expected that bright, beaming grin of joy he'd shown a number of times. He'd been expecting to hear Lance's boisterous laugh echoing through the forest, bouncing off the rocks and ringing just as loudly as he himself laughed.

But there was no smile. There was no loud, beautiful laughter. Lance's face was straight, lips pressed into a thin line, eyes soft and unfocused. Keith watched, transfixed, as he walked to the center of the clearing and held his arms out in front of him, rotating them and watching the drops of rain land on his tanned skin and roll off. He moved in slow circles, letting the rain dance across his body.

And then he threw his head back and looked straight up at the sky. Drops of rain splattered across his face and into his mouth and his lips finally did pull upward. Only it wasn't his usual annoying smirk. This smile was soft, gentle, and graceful. Keith had never seen Lance smile like that. Oh hell.

He could feel his heart rate spike again, watching him. It was like he couldn't tear his eyes away. The rain traced the lines of his jaw, his neck, his collarbone, leaving trails of tiny rivers. They disappeared beneath the collar of his shirt, soaking into the fabric which clung to his body like a second skin.

Lance brought his hands upward, pushing them through the hair that was slowly plastering itself to his head and pulling his head backward even more. He gave a little sigh of pleasure as he did that, throat fully exposed, lined with tiny streams of water.

Keith's breath hitched and he shifted uncomfortably in his hovel, what was now serving as a hiding place. He couldn't look away even if he wanted to. But that wasn't the problem. The problem was he didn't want to.

He didn't want to wrench his eyes away from the sight of Lance. The rain on his skin, in his hair, dripping off of his chin and fingertips. The way he could see his shoulder blades, his abdomen, fuck, even his legs perfectly. He might as well have not been wearing clothes they clung so tightly to him.

He had no idea how long Lance stood out there in the rain, feeling every drop trace its way across his skin. He had no idea how long he watched Lance, stared at him really. Mesmerized by every part of him. The first thing to snap him out of it was his own shivering.

Honestly, he wasn't even all that wet. His jacket was a little damp, but beyond that he was dry. He even had two shirts on. If _he_ was cold, he couldn't even imagine how freezing Lance must have been, soaked to the bone like that.

Compelled by feelings he didn't care to label, he made his way out of his hiding place and started shrugging off his jacket, raindrops digging into his skin like tiny knives. When he reached Lance, whose back was to him, he tossed the jacket onto his head, hoping to at least get some startle out of the the Cuban.

Unfortunately, the sudden shield from the rain didn't exactly startle Lance. He simply turned, mostly in a daze, his unfocused and hazy eyes landing on Keith slowly. His mouth was still turned up in the echo of a smile, but he just looked so...out of it.

"Oh...hey, Keith," he said, the slowest and most nonchalantly he'd ever heard the taller boy speak. Usually, if Keith snuck up on him, he wouldn't hear the end of it for an extremely loud and obnoxious ten minutes. And Keith was certain Lance had never said his name like that. So unhurried and languid, almost lethargic.

"You're soaking wet, dumbass. Aren't you freezing?" Keith asked, feeling the chill of the rain start to dig into his skin.

Lance looked up at the jacket covering his head and pulled it to better shield him. He blinked a few times, the focus finally coming back into his gaze, sharpness returning bit by bit. "Oh, uh...yeah, I guess I am," he mumbled, feeling for the first time since stepping out of the ship just how cold it was on that planet. A shiver ran down his spine and he hunched over a bit more, teeth chattering together.

"Yeah, no kidding. C'mon, let's get back to the ship so you can dry off," Keith reached out and grabbed Lance's arm, pulling him forward. For two steps, Lance followed willingly before the last of his daze seemed to wear off and he stopped.

"W-wait, Keith," he called a bit louder when the dark haired boy didn't stop moving. Keith's hand slid down Lance's arm as he drew further away and to stop him, Lance grabbed onto his hand and held tight.

Keith whipped around at the contact, a heat flaring up his neck as he opened his mouth to balk at the gesture, but Lance beat him to talking.

"I- I don't want to go back to the ship yet." He tried to sound firm, his expression hardening as he spoke.

The Red Paladin didn't much like that. He wanted to see Lance's face go all soft again, all curves and smooth edges. So he did stop. And he tried to get the blue pilot to open up a little more. "No? Why not? I know we still have a ways till sundown, but you're soaked-"

"I know, I know I am. It's just…" Lance lowered his arm but didn't release the tight grip he had on Keith's hand, managing to, therefore, pull him closer in the process. "I'm not ready to leave the rain yet." He spoke much softer this time, eyes downcast and moved away from the other boy.

Keith froze on the spot, his heart hammering in his chest. He hoped to any god he could think of that Lance didn't hear it, that he didn't feel the light tremor in his hand or the sweat slowly building under his gloves. Swallowing, he tried to fight all the feelings surfacing in his chest, seeing Lance so vulnerable, _his_ jacket, _Keith's_ jacket, draped over his head almost possessively. The words came out before he could stop them.

"Yeah, okay, dipshit. I'm at least getting you out of the rain, though. You'll get sick if you keep standing out in the open." He mumbled, turning back the way he'd came toward the outcropping. He didn't let go of Lance's hand.

"You know that's a myth, right? The cold doesn't actually make you sick," Lance replied with a huff, letting Keith lead him with no hesitation on his part, no idea where they were going. He didn't let go of Keith's hand.

"It doesn't?" Keith asked, turning to face his teammate. And oh was that a mistake. Lance's expression was soft like he'd wanted, unguarded and open, but it was...also something else. What was it?

"Nah, just makes it easier for other things to make you sick. But trust me, Lance McClain doesn't get sick," he smiled proudly, eyes glimmering in the dim, foggy light.

"Oh, yeah? Well, I bet you you'll get sick before I do, McClain," the darker haired boy goaded, still trying to place that expression. Sweet? No, too sappy for that asshole. Caring? No, that didn't make sense.

"Yeah, mullet? I'll have you know, I haven't gotten sick since I was eight, and that's only because I went to the sleep over where the whole family had swine flu and didn't tell _anyone_ ," Lance shook his head, eyes crinkling at the edges just slightly.

"Since you were _eight_?" Keith balked, incredulous, but Lance just laughed at that. It wasn't as annoying as usual. It was more genuine, full-bodied, and just so human and real. It sent hot blood rushing through Keith's entire body, despite how freezing he was slowly becoming. And then Lance was looking at him again, a warmth in his eyes and his face and suddenly he knew what that look was called. Fondness. Affection. But...it was aimed at Keith?

They'd reached the outcropping but the conversation had ended abruptly and Keith was slowly becoming more and more unable to process what was happening. His own feelings were slowly exploding in his chest and watching Lance only made him more confused. So he finally let go of Lance's hand and ducked under the rock to settle on the ground again, water dripping from his nose.

Lance joined him moments later, now shivering pretty badly and teeth audibly chattering. But he was still smiling as he looked out at the falling rain. Keith took one look at him and did something he would deny for the rest of his life.

His numb fingers curled around the hem of his over shirt and he started peeling it off, shrugging it over his shoulders in one sharp jerk. He could instantly feel Lance's eyes on him like they were burning deep into his skin.

"W-what...what are you doing?!" He all but screeched, scuttling away with wide eyes and an unhinged jaw.

"Calm down," Keith grunted, balling up his shirt. "You need to get dry. It's not a towel or anything, but at least it's only a little damp."

Lance looked between Keith and his shirt balled up in his hands as his brain desperately tried to wrap itself around whatever was coming out of Keith's mouth. His face was too hot. His skin was crawling. His stomach was bursting with a squirming, fluttering sensation he wanted to stay forever and leave immediately.

He didn't realize he'd spaced out until Keith's knees were on either side of his and his face was covered by a dark gray shirt that smelled like rain and _Keith_. He could feel the pilot's finger's press into his skull as he rubbed the rain out of his soaking wet hair. He was utterly surrounded by the scent of Keith, like the smell of leftover smoke from curls of flame and the slightest hint of cinnamon.

Keith pushed the towel up, bringing it behind Lance's head to dry off his neck and made the mistake of meeting Lance's eyes. They were so blue they were nearly blinding. Glowing. They were focused solely on him and nothing else, not even the rain in the distance. Keith sucked a breath in and ceased all movement, completely stuck staring into those mesmerizing eyes, eyes that were blazing despite their cool color, like flickering blue flames.

And then Lance's hands were pressed into his thin, lithe waist, skin freezing but somehow only managing to heighten the already growing high Keith was experiencing. The Blue Paladin saw that immediately and pulled the dark haired boy down in one sharp motion.

Keith collapsed onto Lance's lap, his calves on the outside of Lance's thighs, their chests pressed together. They hadn't broken eye contact for a moment, gazes blazing as they panted, breathing one another's air. And then the already tiny distance between their lips closed entirely.

Lance's lips, like his hands, were freezing. But Keith's weren't. The contact was just a brush of their lips at first, nothing more than a whisper of pressure, but that didn't make it chaste or innocent, oh no. Like the rest of Keith's personality, this touch of his lips was fiery, passionate, and his lips were so hot it felt like they were burning Lance's.

It was the kind of contact he usually deemed as dangerous, but the only warning bells going off in his head weren't for him to pull away from this kiss, but to watch where his hands were going as they dangerously neared the Red Paladin's thighs. He didn't listen to those warnings as his numb hands landed on soft, searingly warm skin covered only in a thin layer of black jean.

Keith jerked under the sudden contact, but instead of pulling away he only melted closer. He used the towel around Lance's neck to yank him closer, lips abandoning Lance's to attack his throat. There were still thin trails of water drying there and he licked them up, tongue trailing the dips and curves of his skin, savoring the feeling of Lance absolutely shuddering under the sensations.

His throat vibrated under Keith's tongue as he finally took in a big enough breath to make a sound, a slow, long moan slipping between his lips. Keith twitched, the last of his inhibitions melting away as the sound echoed across the rockface, heating his entire body and triggering him to speak without meaning to.

He moaned Lance's name, low and sensual, the word barely becoming more than a growl. His teeth sunk into the sensitive skin below Lance's ear and the boy beneath him writhed, his breath coming only in gasps and pants. Keith's arms raised and placed themselves on either side of the Blue Paladin's head, giving him even more access to Lance as he arched his back and exposed more of his throat.

A chill shot up Keith's spine despite the intense heat that was building between the two of them when he heard his own name slip from between Lance's lips, husky and deep, completely unlike Lance's usual voice. His hands, as well, had found their way up Keith's thighs and under his remaining shirt, nails scraping at the skin of his back. Those hands had been freezing not two minutes earlier, but now it was almost like his nails left trails of fire everywhere they scratched. Keith didn't want it to stop for anything.

By now, the moisture of Lance's soaked clothing had made it all the way through Keith's shirt and his jeans, but he barely noticed between the scratching of Lance's nails and the tiny, mewling noises he was making low and deep in his throat. His thoughts rolled muddily through his head, tossing and turning over one another, barely visible in the haze that was the high of _Lance McClain_.

The only thought to finally manage to break through that fog was how much more distinctly... _dark_ it was. Keith moved his lips across Lance's jaw, moaning against his skin as Lance's fingers dug a little more violently into his back and his hips lurched upward. And then Keith was straight on kissing him again, tongue running along his lower lip with an almost fervent passion.

Lance complied almost immediately, parting his lips and growling as another tongue wrapped around his, tangling with it and holding it in place as it was roughly sucked. Keith pulled his tongue back after another series of Lance's vocal pleasure that sent searing heat plummeting below his stomach and pressed their lips together over and over again. At first, it was just as needy and fiery, but his control finally started to return and they became more controlled and languid.

With a sigh, he pulled away and watched Lance's heavy eyelids flutter open to reveal two very hazy blue orbs. He had to swallow to keep himself from groaning at the sight before him: Lance with half lidded eyes, his mouth open as his swollen, dark red lips remained parted and coated with _his_ saliva. His whole face was flushed and there were fading red marks all along his neck and jaw. It was...perfect.

"I- it's...uh...getting p-pretty dark…" He rasped, his voice thick and hoarse. Lance blinked slowly at him twice before recognition sparked and he gave a numb nod. Keith didn't move for a moment, surprising himself despite what had just happened. He didn't want to get off of Lance's lap.

The Cuban saw this immediately but knew they had to get back to the ship or risk Allura's wrath. Besides, trapped in a giant, floating space vessel made it rather simple to pick up where they left off, anyway. He wasn't worried. "Hey," he said gently, placing one hand on Keith's cheek and the other on his waist. "We'll talk about this later, yeah? Don't worry, I'll remember this one," he assured with a cocky grin and a gentle amount of pressure at Keith's waist.

The Red Paladin stared dumbly for a second before nodding and shifting himself off of the other boy. There was a faint resemblance of a smile on his lips, but he blamed that on the fact that they were still tingling from the sensation of Lance's eager kisses.

"Here, mullet-for-brains," Lance said with another smirk as he stood. "Your...ahem, 'towel'." Keith turned to see him holding his long forgotten shirt which had stayed wrapped around Lance's neck while they were...distracted.

"Thanks," Keith mumbled as he reached out for it, not even caring that it was still wet from Lance's hair. The entire front of his shirt was soaked from being pressed against Lance's anyway. Before Lance could fully let go, however, he grabbed his arm and pulled him forward, their noses almost touching. "And once you get showered and changed, there's a room two doors down from the training hall. It's not big, but I keep some equipment there. Room's soundproof. Meet me there." And before Lance could say anything, Keith had already silenced him with a much more chaste, but lengthy kiss and then pulled away. He scooped his bag off the ground and swung it over his shoulder, ducking under the overhang.

Lance followed a second later, remaining uncharacteristically quiet. With a glance backward, Keith noticed that the Cuban's tanned skin seemed significantly darker, a deep, deep flush covering his cheeks and neck. The sight did little to simply give Keith satisfaction like he thought it may, and instead it only caused him to mirror the color in his own face as realization of his own words sunk in.

He quickly whipped back around and moved a little faster to where they'd parked the castle. Lance, of course, kept perfect pace with him as they fast-walked through the pouring rain and sloshed through the muddy water at their feet.

They were, predictably, the last to reach the castle and by far the wettest. Thankfully, however, neither was particularly red and the marks on Lance's skin had long since dissipated.

"There you two are!" Allura scolded, "I was beginning to worry!"

"No need to worry, Princess," Lance said with a grin. "Keithy boy here took care of me, didn't cha?" He threw an arm around Keith's shoulders and shot him a knowing look.

Keith's brows lowered and he crossed his arms, something occurring to him as he looked into sparkling blue eyes. Something mischievous. Pidge would be proud if they were there. "Oh, I don't know about that, Lance...don't seem to recall taking care of you in any way besides hauling your sorry ass back here."

Lance froze on the spot and Keith easily slipped out from under his floating arm. "W- wha?! Keith? My buddy, you're kidding, right?"

Keith glanced back, lips curled into a vicious smirk. "Kidding? Certainly not, Lance."

"B-but!" He sputtered and Keith turned back around to walk past Shiro and Allura. "But Keith! We bonded! We had a bonding moment! You sheltered me from the rain!" He insisted to a turned back.

"Don't remember, didn't happen!" Keith called back, waving a hand.

Lance stared, absolutely unbelieving, and then that mullet-headed bastard had the gall to turn back for just a second to _fucking wink_ at him. That...that _asshole_ …! Where did he get off being so...so... _cute._ Lance probably broke his lifetime record of getting cleaned up in order to make it to that little soundproof room.

* * *

 **A/N:** Congrats on finishing! If you're interested, this is a thing. It's called my blog. If you'd like to call it a blog, that is. To get there, we're going to use a really roundabout way because FFN is picky af. So here you go.

Everything I bold, underline AND italicize should be copy-pasted into the url bar!

To reach my blog, you're first going to type: _**isassifras  
**_ Next, you're going to hit the period symbol, **.**  
As the first step, you'll want to type good ol' _**tumblr**_  
And then end with a satisfying: _**.com**_

And lookie! You've made it! Now you can bug me to actually write more! Hoorah for you!

 **End of A/N**


	2. Chapter 2

The smell of sulfur stuck to his clothes. A pungent vapor that burns the nostrils and turns the stomach. A bitter reminder of defeat. A stinging, mocking echo of laughter and phantom explosions in the far distance.

Keith couldn't close his eyes. If he let them fall shut for longer than a second, all he saw were pillars of flames. Smoke, dust, fire...raging up from the ground like the earth itself was trying to scream, damaged and dying. He could feel the heat crawl up his skin despite the fact that it had been hours. He'd already caught himself tensing up more than once in fear of the next lateral blast of curling flames as they'd dance their way across the deadened landscape, unforgivingly, toward him.

And toward Lance. To his left had been a battlefield of reds and oranges, of smoky grays and choking blacks, and to his right had been blue-white light, floating up high into the sky. Spraying through the dust and debris, ice particles swayed and turned. Grays mingled with whites and reds with blues, like some kind of maddening waltz.

In the center of it all was only him and Lance. The others had been separated and now it was up to them to get off of this planet. They just had to get back to Red. If they got to Red, they could get the comms back online. But so far that was looking like a pretty dismal option.

The fire was growing closer, closing in. They'd fought it off as best as possible, but Blue wasn't holding on all that well. The crash had damaged her significantly and the best she could manage was a few shots to try and block the flames from engulfing their path. But the fire was winning. There was just too much of it.

It curled and reached above the tendrils of ice, fireballs lashing out almost like living things. Hell, for all they knew, they could be sentient. And they kept rising. They twisted and writhed in the air, growing ever closer to them. Like the water that was rushing down the rapidly melting ice, they dripped down the ice wall and pooled near the bottom. They didn't stop there.

It was almost like they were changing shape, morphing right in front of their horrified gazes. They _were_ sentient. Keith could catch images resembling faces, of eyes burning like black holes, and flashes of talons, claws, and teeth. They tripped over one another, falling all over each other in a mad rush to consume the bodies of the Paladins like they had all the life on the planet already. Belching dark smoke and crackling flames, the masses of heat - the bodies of flames and light - launched toward them and completely out of instinct, Keith raised his shield.

The flames, curved upward like gnarled nails, all sharp and twisted, were about to hit dead in the center of his only protection and he winced when picturing the iridescent surface that was about to positively shatter, melting at the edges and curling in on itself from the sheer force of the heat.

His mind short-circuited at the moment of contact and he could see everything that would happen flash before his eyes. He saw the blast sending him tumbling backward. His body would hit the ground several times before he would finally roll out. His head would smack into the uneven ground.

Maybe Lance would scream his name, a sharp sound that would be nothing but a gentle echo off of Arizona-esque canyons. He'd collapse to the ground, ears ringing, blood pooling in his helmet. The feeling in his arms and legs would dull significantly. He would lose the ability to move. He would lose everything. He would lose Lance.

He pried his eyes open, prepared for the blast to send him careening backward, eyes stinging whether from emotion or smoke he'd never know. But the impact never came. He blinked at his shield, still intact, and the ringing in his ears fizzled out as something gripped his arm.

Keith turned, horrified, when he recognized the gloves, burnt and riddled with holes. Lance's. His eyes traveled up to the Cuban's face, on the way spotting a ruined shield connected to an arm cracked at an unnatural angle.

Lance's helmet was cracked down the side, covered in blood. The same blood that ran down his face and into one eye, forcing it shut. His lips, chapped and bloody, were moving but Keith heard no voice.

The Blue Paladin yanked on his arm and Keith made out, "go now" on his lips. His legs moved slowly, like he was wading through molasses but Lance kept him moving, kept him on his feet. He was favoring one leg, leaning wildly and trying not to move his broken arm.

The tears collecting in Keith's eyes spilled over as he realized Lance had taken the blow for him. Probably saved his life. And now was dragging him along despite the breakdown he was having. Through a constricted throat, he forced a hoarse noise to project, "I'm…Sorry, Lance."

The fires were closing in. Keith was moving too slowly. Lance hurt all over. He could barely see. He turned to find Keith's face, anything to assure him that everything would be okay, but all light was sucked from his vision and the world went black, his body ached as it collided with something hard, and something incredibly cold compared to his seething skin collided with his face just before his consciousness was ripped from him.

Keith didn't know how long he'd been staring at the interior of Red. He'd been unmoving, gaze unfocused, since he'd slid down the wall hours ago, Lance's head cradled in his lap. It wasn't until the darker skinned boy finally started to move that he blinked the bleariness away and refocused on Lance.

"H-hey…" Keith stuttered, his voice coming out low and crackly. Lance's eyes focused in on his, all dull and muted before sharpening just slightly. In true Lance-fashion, his lips curled upward and he smirked.

"Hey, yourself. You look like shit, mullet man." His voice warbled too, throat strained and probably dehydrated. He needed water.

"Not as shit as you, dumbass. Hang on, I'll get you some-" Keith started to get up, gently shifting away from Lance before the Cuban grabbed his arm to stop him.

Startled, stormy violet eyes met steadily sharpening blue ones and Lance shook his head. "I'm good. Don't...don't leave yet."

The Korean sat there for a moment, every muscle tensed, before he relaxed and let a hesitant nod show he was complying. "Alright...how...do you want me to sit?"

"Like this is fine," Lance mumbled, shifting ever so carefully so his head was resting on the tops of Keith's thighs. "So, we really fucked up, huh?" He chuckled as he spoke, his depreciating joke somewhat drown out by the series of coughs that followed it.

"I don't know about that…" Keith said, his face warming up as he could feel every time Lance shifted, every breath he took. His hands itched to touch, to run their fingers through Lance's growing hair, to stroke his still dirtied face. God, Lance would probably kill him if he could see the state his face was in, but there was only so much the Red Paladin could do with a mechanic's washcloth and a bottle of water.

"No? Then tell me, Keith, which part of getting our asses handed to us by a crap load of sentient fire beasts didn't encompass fucking up?"

"Maybe the fact that they were sentient fire beasts and we're teenagers with broken lion robots and wimpy weapons that don't work on sentient fire beasts? And, oh yeah, they were _sentient fire beasts_ ," he said again for emphasis.

"We're lucky we made it here alive," the Blue Paladin muttered as a response to that. "Being teenagers with no weapons isn't an excuse for almost dying out there. We don't get to hide behind how big and bad the monsters we're fighting are. At the end of the day, if we do everything right, we should survive."

"And we did, didn't we?" Keith gestured to the interior of Red. "We lived, Lance. And not by luck. You're the one who…"

"I did what I had to, Keith,"

"Are you sure about that? Lance, you could have left me there. I mean, you probably _should_ have left me there. L-look at you...I mean...this is-"

"Don't you dare say this is your fault, Kogane. I'll sock you in your stupid mullet mouth."

"But Lance-"

"Ah-ah! No. That's final. And I absolutely could _not_ have left you there. Are you insane? Not only are you a part of my team, not only are you the Red Paladin of Voltron, you're my _friend_ , Keith, and I would never even dream of leaving you behind."

The red pilot was quiet for a moment and Lance had to strain up to see if the boy was okay. What he found surprised him, to say the least.

Seeing Keith show emotion was still new to Lance. It wasn't like he was necessarily stoic and brooding in every moment- he certainly got angry and determined often enough to annoy Lance, but it was rare to see him flustered, that was for certain. And yet, blinking rapidly down at him, Keith's cheeks were slowly growing more and more rosy. His hands started to fidget and he tucked the same strand of hair behind his ear three times in a row for no real reason.

"Keith?" He questioned, when the shorter boy had been quiet for too long.

The question only served to make the already spreading color blossom across his face even further, darkening in adorable splotches, his gaze dropping and his voice wavering in and out, "We're...friends?"

"W-well...I mean, yeah...unless you don't-"

"No! No, I do...it's just...I didn't think you really even liked me…I thought you could hardly stand me..."

"Keith."

"...What?"

"We couldn't even sort of form Voltron if I didn't like you, come on, man!"

"Well- I mean, I don't-"

"Don't you 'well- I mean, I don't' me, mister. Honestly, I don't know where this is even coming from anymore, unless it's you that can't stand me."

"Me that can't…- no! Lance! It's just...you're always so...well, _you_ , and _I_ -"

"Keith. We kissed. I kissed you in the rain for- for hours. If Shiro hadn't pulled us aside when we got back, who knows what...what could have happened- you know? I-"

"But nothing happened! You never...you never came to the room, you never...asked again..." Keith snapped, cutting him off, voice sharp at first and then trailing off, still heated enough to warn Lance not to interrupt. "We kissed and it was my fault, and after that night you never kissed me again...you looked at me less and less and I- when you jumped in front of me...all I could think of was that I ruined...us. And I'd never get to tell you how sorry I am, or how much I regret-"

" _Don't_." Keith startled, focus instantly going back down to Lance. The Blue Paladin had draped his arm over his eyes and had fallen silent again but his word rang through the empty space in Red's cockpit. Keith licked his lips and was about to say something when Lance started talking again. "Don't you _fucking_ dare say what I think you're about to say, Keith."

The red pilot recoiled a bit, sucking a small, silent breath in. He'd only heard Lance say his first name in that tone a few times. A tone of real, tangible anger.

"First of all, nothing's your _fault_ , Jesus, Keith. You didn't ruin anything, do you hear me? And you absolutely do not apologize to me. And for your sake? I'm going to pretend I didn't hear you start to say that you regretted us- r-regretted the kiss, that is."

Lance shifted uncomfortably at the wording. He didn't mean to imply a relationship. Not that he didn't want one, but...that wasn't the point. "I...I'm not the best with communication, shocking I know, when it comes to relationships. I never kissed you again because I was waiting to see if you wanted me to. I'd...been pretty sure that I'd taken advantage of you at a bad time or something. I needed to make sure you hadn't just been all over me because I was... _there_ , you know? But you started showing up less and less. Always training. Hiding away...Avoiding me. And it hurt to look at you. To remember what you looked like all disheveled and...ugh...don't...don't make me picture that right now. I can't-"

"Can I kiss you now then?" Keith whispered under his breath, barely audible even in such a small space.

"Tell me it's not just because I'm convenient."

"Fuck, Lance, are you kidding me? I've wanted you since the day we met at the Garrison, to the point where, I swear to god, seeing you the day all this started surprised and scared me more than finding Shiro on the examination table. Shiro, who'd been missing for a year by then, a whole year I spent looking for him, and I was more startled to see you there- mmfph!"

Keith's airflow was suddenly cut off as a pair of lips pressed against his own, the contact short, sharp, and chaste. It only lasted for a few brief seconds before Lance was pulling away. Keith nearly whimpered at the loss. He'd been waiting too long.

"Relax, Keithy boy…" He whispered, his breath ghosting across Keith's skin, sending dizzying shivers down his spine. And then Lance was back, the contact, the heat, the pressure...it was back. Lance let his eyes flutter shut, his nose brushing Keith's, the bridges of their noses hardly making contact as sparks flew.

When Lance's lips finally touched his, the contact was hesitant, tentative- nothing like any of their previous kisses. Warm, slow, gentle...like he was melting against him. As if his face wasn't hot enough, a gust of breath from Lance's mouth washed over Keith's skin and the comfortable warmth sunk into his skin. The intimacy was intoxicating.

Keith's head was reeling and his hands trembled as they wound themselves into Lance's hair, tightening on the short locks and gently pulling the Cuban up just enough to deepen the kiss. The contact should have seemed nervous and clumsy, but the leisurely, sultry motions made him lightheaded and sent exhilarating heat speeding through his body.

He didn't realize his ears were ringing until the buzzing died down just enough to hear the faint pitter patter as drops began to hit Red in earnest. The soft sprinkling sound turned slightly more intense as it shifted to the rumbling of pelting water.

Lance pulled away, eyes wide, lips slightly pinker, and a dark blush covering his neck and cheeks. "Is that…?"

"Rain, yeah." Keith looked down at him, eyes hazy and an expression of dazed delirium, with a smile on his face. "It's how we got here safely, actually. You dragged me most of the way, but you fainted before we made it. I thought we were goners...but then it started raining. Those...things shrank away from it like it burned, and then they ran and whatever didn't get away fast enough evaporated. Doesn't hurt us, though, or we'd be dead too. We were soaked."

Lance tried his best to listen, honestly, but the sound of the rain pelting against the metal of Red was simply too perfect to ignore. His eyes scanned the walls of Red's cockpit like he could see through them, an unconscious smile overtaking his features. The sound of the rain increased as they reached the peak of the storm and Keith watched in growing intrigue as Lance's eyes fluttered shut and a rush of tranquility overtook his expression.

Keith could feel his cheeks heat up as he watched Lance's entire body shift. Just like in the woods so many weeks earlier, there was a subdued, nostalgic sort of joy in everything about him. A kind of happiness that the Red Paladin had never observed in his behavior before. He wanted to watch it forever.

Spur of the moment, he reached down and slipped his arm under Lance's knees. The Cuban's eyes snapped open, a bright, bright blue that zeroed in on his own eyes instantly, a silent question in them. "I'm going to take you outside." Keith said quickly, not really thinking about why he was doing that and not really _wanting_ to think about how much his heart swelled when Lance's expression lit up.

With as much care as he could, Keith swept the other boy up in his arms and carried him to the entrance to Red, thanking her when she opened so they could walk out. Just underneath Red, there was a dry patch where the rain hadn't wet the dusty earth. Keith lowered Lance to the ground gently and sat down right beside him. He looked out at the fire-scorched landscape and felt the heat in his face gradually die down until his complexion finally evened out again.

Eventually, he couldn't take just staring at a barren skyline being pelted with water any longer and his eyes flickered down to Lance. The other boy, like before, had a completely straight face. His eyes were closed, lashes fluttering against his tanned cheeks, giving his already soft smile an even softer feel. His lips, still slightly pink and swollen, were pulled up gracefully again, a mature, sophisticated kind of true smile.

Keith didn't realize he was staring until Lance's eyes finally fluttered open and fixed on him. He'd seen Lance's eyes in a variety of blues, anywhere from hazy to clear and focused, but he'd never, _never_ seen them like this.

They were almost disturbingly blue, to the point where it should have unnerved him. But it didn't. It drew him in deeper. His eyes were ordinarily like the sparkling surface of the ocean, flecked with darker and lighter speckles, but now they were perfect. A cloudless, evening sky somewhere between midnight and cornflower. There was no heaviness in them, no shifting of emotions, they were crystal clear.

And they were laser focused on him.

Lance's hand drifted up, just the barest amount of pressure from his fingertips grazed along Keith's jaw and up into his hair, pushing back a clump of dark, curling locks behind the shorter boy's ear. "You're beautiful…" He said, slightly breathless, almost like a gust of air rather than words.

Ordinarily, Keith would have flinched backward at the touch, but Lance's fingers were almost a magnet, keeping him in place so as not to lose the prickly, electricity of his touch. A shiver shot down his spine and his mouth dropped open at the words, his eyes widening as he floundered for a response.

Looking at him, Lance's even-keeled expression cracked as joy leaped across his face and he started to laugh. The laughter bubbled out from him in such a natural way that all the air caught in Keith's chest. His giggles set his eyes alight, his body language oozing a relaxed kind of joy and mirth so innocent and unrestrained that Keith had to blink a few times to believe it. Lance laughed all the time. But he never laughed like this. Never from so deep inside himself, never to the point where Keith found himself joining in just because of its sheer force.

Lance's laughter died down and he found himself staring up at Keith who was forcing natural snickers down as his pale cheeks found themselves heated once again. His eyes were pressed closed in an attempt to stifle his laughter, but they eventually fluttered open, a mixture of violet and indigo, flecked with browns and yellows like some unnatural hazel. Lance always lost himself in those eyes.

His hand tightened in Keith's hair and he pulled himself upward with no warning, catching those full lips between his own. The Red Paladin let out a second muffled exclamation of surprise before the sound slipped into a much lower, drawn out groan of neediness. Keith knew he should have been embarrassed by it, but he was left just gasping into the other boy's mouth.

Lance's breathing had turned shaky and shallow, his eyes barely open and lids heavy and drooping. His eyes were focused only on Keith's lips. It was all the encouragement Keith needed. He pulled Lance up, only a thin voice of warning at the back of his head reminding him to be careful of Lance's broken arm, but luckily Lance got the message.

He threw one leg over Keith's lap and straddled him, a reversed echo of the first time they'd done this, as Lance towered over the other boy and leaned down to let their lips meet again. This kiss is nothing like the others. This time it was Lance who gripped Keith's face in his hands, long fingers winding into his hair as he slammed their lips together in a fiery, passionate clash of teeth, lips, and tongue.

Keith's hands traveled up Lance's thin waist, kept from feeling his skin through the under armor they both wore on their entire bodies. But he could feel the heat. His hands traced every curve, every plane, every bit of hard muscle under soft skin. Like Lance's had before, Keith's fingers, his nails, found themselves digging into the other's back, pulling him lower to force the kiss deeper.

Without warning, Lance's tongue darted from his mouth and pressed into Keith's lips which parted almost instinctively.

Lance pulled back, his breathing labored and heavy as he barely paused. The warm air brushed again over Keith's face but it was different that time. Hotter. Sensual. It sent electricity rocketing across the Korean's skin. He needed more. A whimpering, pleading mewl escaped his lips and he was instantly rewarded with more contact.

It was soft at first, the feeling of Lance's dizzyingly soft lips trailing along his jawline, a sharp contrast to the almost animalistic kissing from earlier. It sent his mind spiraling and fracturing into oblivion. His heart beat sadistically in his ribcage, adrenaline high and pumping through his body, now left sizzling and gnawing at his libido which was steadily making it harder and harder for him to think clearly.

The kisses reached his ear and teeth dug into his earlobe just hard enough to make a deep groan leak from his throat. Lance's lips moved almost immediately, traveling further down his neck, drawing more thready, gasping moans from Keith's throat as he craned his neck backward, trying to give Lance all the access he needed. His moans turned strangled as the Cuban neared his collarbone, kisses turning more into slow, languid sucking and short, sharp nips of his teeth.

"Lance," he rasped, grabbing ahold of the material at the Blue Paladin's back and abruptly pushing his hips up to meet Lance's.

He drew back with a hiss and a gasp, eyes shooting open to meet Keith's. They'd become so dark, their pupils blown so wide, that only the thinnest ring of indigo was visible on the edges. The sight alone made Lance's breath catch and his gut seize. He abandoned the Red Paladin's neck in favor of consuming Keith's lips again, pushing his own hips into Keith's this time.

Keith broke the kiss almost instantly, head snapping backward as a clipped moan tore its way between their lips, but Lance sunk his fingers into the other boy's long hair, easily tangling them inside. He pulled the Korean forward and was determined to keep him there. Their mouths met again, all semblance of grace and intimacy lost to the clash of teeth, tongues, and spit.

Lance dug his hips down again, this time keeping Keith in place and swallowing the groans he made, his own noises turning into a lewd hum that vibrated Keith's lips. When Lance rolled his hips down again, Keith timed it perfectly to rut his hips to meet them and the friction exploded between them. They pulled apart, gasping for air, and their eyes met, mad with lust.

Neither moved for a moment, a silent question between them whether or not to continue. Keith was so hard it was physically hurting him and he knew getting out of his suit at this point would be impossible. And if they didn't stop now, he wouldn't have even the capability to stop himself later. And he'd have a hell of a mess to clean up or deal with for the indefinite time they'd be on this planet.

Keith pulled back, pressing his forehead into Lance's as they panted the same air, two sets of eyes screwed shut, the only hint of tension on their otherwise slackened faces. Lance's hands were still in Keith's hair, slowly drifting down until they rested below his ears, fingers tightening in the dirtied locks and thumbs stroking dirtied cheeks. It was oddly soft and comforting for what they'd just been doing.

Keith ran his fingers softly down Lance's spine, feeling every ridge until he got to the base and slid his hands around the paladin's thin waist, eventually resting them on his hips. His breathing had slowed considerably but he was still panting slightly, on the high that was Lance McClain.

"Did...did you mean it?" He huffed, prying his eyes open to find them staring into Lance's, which were now a dusty gray and hazy like a foggy seashore.

Lance hummed softly, close enough that the sound reverberated through Keith's entire body. He shivered in sheer enjoyment. "Mean what, _mi amor_?" He breathed out, not missing the way that the other boy's breath caught at the endearment.

He tried to speak several times, his words coming out as a stutter the first few tries. "That...that I'm...beautiful…" He eventually got out, vaguely aware that Lance's lips were still parted and his hesitant question traveled right into Lance's open mouth. It was stunningly intimate, something he would have never considered to be even remotely romantic.

"Keith, babe," Lance said softly, his eyes fluttering closed as he pressed his cheek to Keith's and slowly started to nuzzle against him, nudging against his cheek and jaw until his mouth reached the paler boy's ear. "There's nothing about you that isn't beautiful. You are everything I've ever aspired to be. I've admired who you are under the stoic, beautiful facade that is Keith Kogane since the moment I first saw you. You are, without a doubt, completely, totally, and absolutely, _beautiful_."

Lance felt it before he saw it or heard it. A touch of moisture trailing between their pressed cheeks. He drew back in surprise and felt himself blinking away the haze as his gaze fell on Keith who was looking down at him like he'd never truly seen him before. His tears were silent, falling slowly down his curved cheeks. It should have been an unremarkable kind of crying, but it struck Lance like nothing before.

There was a raw, exposed sort of element to Keith's tears, pain clear on his face like an open wound. He trembled under Lance's fingers and the last of his mask fell with his last shreds of protection from vulnerability. He clutched the Cuban like he was his only lifeline and a watery smile flashed across his reddened face.

"Keith!" Lance exclaimed, his hand going to cup the other boy's cheek. "You silly…" His voice caught and he looked at the Korean staring at him like he was the only one in the universe. Lance's vision blurred slightly as tears gathered in his own eyes. "You weren't...supposed to cry...mullet-headed idiot. And now you're making me cry…"

"Lance…" He finally pushed out of his throat, the sound tight and forced, as he leaned down and pressed his forehead against Lance's again. "I...thank you, Lance. Thank you, thank you…" He winced at the cracking in his voice but the boy below him cooed softly and soothed all his embarrassment away with just a few gentle noises.

Lance gently swiped at Keith's cheeks and smiled up at him slowly as the torrent of rain finally started to wane. "Anytime, babe," he drawled, gently rubbing their noses together.

"We should...get inside." Keith sniffed, his eyes downcast whether out of shame or just being flustered, but Lance grabbed his chin regardless and caught his attention.

His lips slid into a slow smirk and he winked at the other boy, "Always the one to ruin our fun, hmm?" He joked with a growing smile before finally letting Keith pull away. "And Keith?"

"Yes?"

"I mean what I said. I'm always willing to talk to you if you need me. You don't need to be ashamed of needing the praise or assurance...we all do. Really. We all do." Lance's expression fell into something more akin to insecurity and he averted his eyes.

Keith again slipped his arms around Lance to heft him up and his lips curled into a small, hesitant smile. "Okay, Lance." He said tightly, eyes hesitantly taking in the bright blue ones that stared back at him. "And...the same goes for you, okay?"

"Okay." Lance snuggled up into the other boy's chest, burying his face to hide the darkness that brushed against his skin's tanned hue. As much as he could feel the pain in his arm and as much as his head throbbed uncomfortably, he knew he should be grimacing in the face of getting off this planet and keeping himself alive, but all he could feel was safe, cradled in the arms of the Red Paladin.


End file.
